Commerce depends on a vast number of financial transactions that distribute funds among participants such as merchants, customers, companies, and other entities. Traditional methods of conducting financial transactions commonly consist of an exchange of currency, which may include paper currency, checks, credit cards, and electronic transfers. With each type of currency, a number of processes are typically invoked to fulfill a transaction. The processes may include a payment fulfillment process, paperwork, and processes performed by a banking institution, among other possible processes.
In more recent years, financial transactions have moved online onto the Internet. It is commonplace for entities to transfer payments across the Internet to complete a transaction. Furthermore, devices used to initiate these types of online payments increasingly include wireless mobile devices such cell phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), text messaging devices, and other devices that communicate in conjunction with the Internet or other communication networks. The ability to initiate transactions from virtually anywhere introduces new security risks, such as receipt of payment by an unintended recipient and/or transmission by someone other than an account owner.